MenuPages

I had dinner there last night (or appetizers as it happened). I was unimpressed with the quality of the food and taken aback at the size of the dishes. The fried zuchinni had about 5 pieces to it, the olives were OK but a plate principal of steak frites had an appetizer portion of steak but plenty of frites. I joked it should have come with toothpicks not a fork and knife. And it wasn't even good. I will not be back

I always walk past this place and I thought the menu looked great, so had to try it out - went for Sunday brunch this past weekend. I made a reservation and got in at the exact time I wanted. Upon arrival, we were promptly seated, but given only one menu for three people. Our waiter quickly brought more menus and told us about the daily specials. The brunch prix fixe is awesome - $21 for any 2 dishes on the menu! We ordered cheeses, but when we asked about a particular one, the waiter stated 'it's a goat cheese from Spain' - that was obvious to us because their menus have little cow/goat/sheep images above the types of cheeses, and it says the region the cheese is from. When our first course was coming out, we watched the server who was carrying our three dishes - we were the only table of 3 - do a lap around the entire restaurant and come back out another door before delivering our plates. We had a laugh about it, and joked that he must be hung over. Then we started watching the staff - they were either all hung over or maybe still drunk. They were a confused scattered mess! Our second course came out and they messed up the order so we had to do this awkward switch-a-ro. At dessert, I asked for the French Vervine tea and my friend asked for a black tea. The waiter repeated our order as a green tea and a decaf for some reason. Upon correcting him that I ordered the herbal Vervine, he then said "Oh, the chamomile" and I had to again say "FRENCH VERVINE" to which he said "Yeah, it's a chamomile". Um, actually it's a lemon verbena and not a chamomile at all, so we laughed at that too because he was so arrogant. The server brought out three teas - my Vervine, a Lapsang Shouchon and a Genmaicha. We don't know why the green tea came out, but what was worse was my friend was expecting a breakfast tea or an earl grey and not the 'burnt wood' smelling Lapsang. A good waiter would have asked her to specify which tea she wanted, and I guess that was her mistake, but still, that's a tea that requires some serious acquired taste and is not for someone who simply asks for a black tea. She was really disappointed with her tea, but after seeing all the goof-ups, we weren't about to make a fuss over it. We just got the check and got out of there. I would go back because the food was delicious. The atmosphere was great, and the prix fixe is unbeatable for the amount of food you get. But the waitstaff needs to get themselves together. Hung over = unprofessional

Man, what a mess our meal was on Friday nite. The service and mgmt situation was so bad, that we literally started laughing. First, the hostess took me over to a table, which like many others in NYC, the table had to be pulled out for me to fit in. Instead of pulling it out when we got to it, she just looked at me even though my hands were clearly full w/ my purse and a drink, so my boyfriend pulled it out. Then we sat for 20 minutes w/ only the cocktail list - no food menus. When we were finally given food menus, we were also given a separate small plates menu, a restaurant week menu, and a cheese menu. 5 menus in total! we then placed our drink orders - a glass of wine and an Iced Tea. 20 minutes later, they arrive. Order several courses. No joke we had been seated for an hour and our salads hadnt yet arrived. My salad was missing half of the ingredients. main courses come, and the portion sizes (i'm a new yorker so i'm used to small) were absurd. our steak was literaly 5 pieces. All the while, managers in fancy suits stood off to the side talking amongst each other. Our table wasnt alone in our issues -- every table around us was unhappy and yet mgmt was so busy observing from a distance they had no idea. This place operated like they opened just last week and it seemed like it was everyone's there's first restaurant job. Take my word for it and pass on this one. nothing notable food wise & poor service/mgmt.

I would say the only problem i had with the restaurant is the server was very unattentive, and also brought me out the wrong main course. I understand that it is loud in the restaurant, but i do not know how he heard macaroni and cheese from me instead of parpadelle bolognese. I did not care that it was wrong but he did not apologize for his mistake and at the end charged us for the mac and cheese as a 'favor' when it was only 2 dollars less, it should have been taken off the bill completely. plus by the time my meal arrived my guest had finished his and the meat sauce was not even warm. the food also wasnt that great. i have had much better french food in the city.

Went there for lunch today and was surprised to see what a great deal they have - $21 for any 2 items on the menu + any dessert from 11:30 am until 6:00 pm or so... The food was excellent. The service that some reviews and a few people have complained about was one of the very best I have ever encountered anywhere. My napkin had inadvertently fallen on the floor during my meal... the waiter innocuously replaced it - picking it up in one swift motion & handing me a clean replacement. My friend, whose entree of cod was excellent but somewhat small, wanted a few more bites of my entree after his plate & silverware had been cleared away. As soon as I spooned some of my food on to his bread plate, our waiter brought over a fork & knife for my friend, without us having to signal to him. My entree of skate was excellent... one of he best I've had in the city. but since I am on a healthy eating kick, I'd have liked it even more if it wasn't fried & was pan roasted or baked instead.

Bar Artisanal opened in late April and, 2 months later, there are still some kinks they need to work out, mostly when it comes to service. A friend and I ordered a salad and two small plates to share, and the 3rd member of our party only ordered a burger. Instead of bringing everything at the same time or the salad first followed by a second/main course of the 2 small plates to share and the burger, the server arranged it so that each shared plate came out as a separate course. The poor burger orderer was starving by the time it came with course #3! That said, management is very accommodating and responsive to criticism.